A new programme in San Francisco, backed by Democratic California Gov. Gavin Newsom, will give out speeding tickets based on how much money the person makes.
Newsom signed the Speed Safety System Pilot Programme into law in October 2023. It lets cities all over California use speed cameras to fine cars. Anyone with a low income can get a big discount on their fine if they get a speeding ticket.
The fine for speeding is between $50 and $500, but the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency says that people whose household income is at or below 200% of the government poverty level can get a 50% discount. People who are poor or homeless can get an 80% discount on their speeding ticket.
The programme began on March 20 in San Francisco with 33 speed cameras spread out across the city. However, only about half of them are currently working.
During the first 60 days of the pilot programme, the cameras will only give speeding drivers warnings. After that, they will start giving fines. People are in violation when they go more than 11 mph over the speed limit in their car.
Speed cameras were put up in “high injury” areas, which are the 12% of streets in San Francisco that are responsible for 68% of serious injuries or deaths caused by traffic.
It says in a fact sheet for the test programme that speed cameras were set up all over the city “equitably.”
“The programme is intended to benefit all communities and not single out any particular neighbourhood,” the fact sheet says.
Not only San Francisco wants to start the test programme, but so do other cities.
In 2026, the Los Angeles Department of Transportation will start a similar programme to catch speeding cars. People with low incomes will be able to do community service instead of paying fines.
